Holland Christian girls hoops tops West Ottawa on late 3

Friday

Dec 6, 2013 at 10:46 PMDec 6, 2013 at 10:55 PM

By Dan.D'Addona@hollandsentinel.com (616) 546-4276

The Holland Christian girls basketball team waited for an opening.Locked in a defensive battle, the Maroons struggled to find an open shot against West Ottawa.But when it came, they made the most of it.Holland Christian's Hope Leppink buried an open 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter to lead the Maroons past the Panthers 35-31 on Friday night at home."That's Hope. She has ice in her veins," Holland Christian coach Crystal Strickland said.The 3 by the senior guard broke a 29-29 tie and the Panthers could get no closer the rest of the game."Last year, it was the same game and we won by a couple of points. They are a great team," West Ottawa coach Jenna Plewes said. "The girls played tremendous defense. We just kind of misplayed on that 3. That was huge for them."Holland Christian improved to 2-0, while West Ottawa dropped to 1-1."Every year it is the ugliest game of the year," Strickland said. "It is fun to play them. They are aggressive and they get after it. They are a great test the first week of the season. Our girls did a great job of finishing the game of composure. We looked composed the entire fourth quarter and the girls trusted their abilities."Holland Christian senior forward Autumn Rooks followed Leppink's 3-pointer with two free throws, which put the Maroons up 34-29 with 1:12 remaining in the fourth quarter.West Ottawa's Molly Borgman scored in the paint, and Holland Christian's Bre Luurtsema hit a free throw to seal the victory with 5.7 seconds remaining.Rooks scored 10 points to lead the Maroons. Luurtsema had seven points, while Leppink, Ellery Mast and Alyssa Garvelink each had five. Allie Buikema had four. Mast had seven rebounds and Garvelink grabbed six.Leppink made her mark in the game on defense, Strickland said."She played awesome defense on Julie Brown the entire game, and Julie Brown is one of the best guards in the area. Hope held her scoreless. That is something that gets unnoticed. That was bigger than the 3-pointer she hit," Strickland said.Borgman scored 10 to lead the Panthers and grabbed 10 rebounds. Mikayla Martinie added eight points and six rebounds. She also had three steals and a block. Amber Kobylski had six points."It hurt us having Julie fouling out," Plewes said. "She directs our offense and is one of our main scorers."West Ottawa senior Maddie Archer had five points and four rebounds in her return to the court, following the death of her father, Frank Archer. He died Sunday after a battle with cancer."The girls came out together," Plewes said. "It has been a really hard week with the passing of Maddie's dad. The girls have really held it together. She played well. I am proud of the girls for sticking together."